Police kill H.B. man in car

Newport Beach police officers shot and killed a Huntington Beach resident who they say tried to run them down with his car early Friday.

Shortly before 1 a.m., officers attempted to stop Jason Richard Bissonnette, 38, who owned a mortgage business.

The officers believed he was driving under the influence, Newport Beach Police Sgt. Evan Sailor said.

When the driver refused to yield near Jamboree Road and Coast Highway, police pursued him to a residential neighborhood in east Costa Mesa, where he became trapped in a cul-de-sac.

Bissonnette then drove toward officers and rammed one of their cars with his Mercedes-Benz, damaging the car, authorities said.

The officers, Sailor said, opened fire on Bissonnette and struck him multiple times.

Costa Mesa paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Sailor said he did not believe Bissonnette, the sole occupant of his vehicle, had any weapons inside the car.

“The perceived threat was from the vehicle itself,” Sailor said. “I don’t know if he had any weapons or what was in the vehicle.”

The Orange County district attorney’s office is investigating the shooting.